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Macron Urges Iran to Cease ‘Destabilizing Regional Activities’

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech in front of French ambassadors during the conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, Paris, France, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech in front of French ambassadors during the conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, Paris, France, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)
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Macron Urges Iran to Cease ‘Destabilizing Regional Activities’

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech in front of French ambassadors during the conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, Paris, France, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech in front of French ambassadors during the conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, Paris, France, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)

President Emmanuel Macron covered a wide array of topics and challenges facing France in the coming years as he addressed the French diplomatic corps on the occasion of the annual conference for the 163 ambassadors and 15 delegates to international organizations.

He dedicated a segment to Iran when discussing France’s commitments to countries in the Middle East and the broader Eastern region, particularly in the context of counterterrorism efforts.

Furthermore, it appears that the issue of the four detained French individuals - Macron mistakenly mentioned six detainees twice in his speech - whom France regards as “state hostages,” continues to cast a shadow over the relations between Paris and Tehran.

Macron’s firm stance regarding the hostage situation is not limited to that aspect alone; it also extends to Iran’s nuclear activities and its regional policies, which Paris still describes as “destabilizing.”

This characterization persists despite the recent rapprochement between Tehran and several regional capitals.

Macron affirmed that his country’s policy toward Iran is “clear and not tainted by any weakness.”

The president did not hesitate to express his satisfaction with “the progress achieved in recent weeks,” referring to the agreement reached between the US and Tehran last month concerning the release of five dual-national American citizens.

However, based on his experience, Macron conveyed that he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the agreement.

As for the case of the four French individuals detained in Iran, Macron sternly urged Tehran to release them, asserting that “nothing justifies their detention in prisons under unacceptable conditions,” and their imprisonment is an “arbitrary act.”

He emphasized that Paris will persist in both demanding and working towards their release.

This isn't the first time that Paris has made such a request.

However, the prevailing belief in France is that Tehran is seeking a quid pro quo, similar to what recently transpired with Belgium, where Tehran released its citizen who was working in the humanitarian field in Iran in exchange for the release of Assadollah Assadi.

Assadi, an Iranian diplomat accredited in Austria, was apprehended in Germany and handed over to Belgium, where he was tried and sentenced to prison.

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Danish General Says He Is Not Losing Sleep over US Plans for Greenland

FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
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Danish General Says He Is Not Losing Sleep over US Plans for Greenland

FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

The head of Denmark's Arctic command said the prospect of a US takeover of Greenland was not keeping him up at night after talks with a senior US general last week but that more must be done to deter any Russian attack on the Arctic island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

Trump has not ruled out taking the territory by force and, at a congressional hearing this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not deny that such contingency plans exist.

Such a scenario "is absolutely not on my mind," Soren Andersen, head of Denmark's Joint Arctic Command, told Reuters in an interview, days after what he said was his first meeting with the general overseeing US defense of the area.

"I sleep perfectly well at night," Anderson said. "Militarily, we work together, as we always have."

US General Gregory Guillot visited the US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on June 19-20 for the first time since the US moved Greenland oversight to the Northern command from its European command, the Northern Command said on Tuesday.

Andersen's interview with Reuters on Wednesday were his first detailed comments to media since his talks with Guillot, which coincided with Danish military exercises on Greenland involving one of its largest military presences since the Cold War.

Russian and Chinese state vessels have appeared unexpectedly around Greenland in the past and the Trump administration has accused Denmark of failing to keep it safe from potential incursions. Both countries have denied any such plans.

Andersen said the threat level to Greenland had not increased this year. "We don't see Russian or Chinese state ships up here," he said.

DOG SLED PATROLS

Denmark's permanent presence consists of four ageing inspection vessels, a small surveillance plane, and dog sled patrols tasked with monitoring an area four times the size of France.

Previously focused on demonstrating its presence and civilian tasks like search and rescue, and fishing inspection, the Joint Arctic Command is now shifting more towards territorial defense, Andersen said.

"In reality, Greenland is not that difficult to defend," he said. "Relatively few points need defending, and of course, we have a plan for that. NATO has a plan for that."

As part of the military exercises this month, Denmark has deployed a frigate, F-16s, special forces and extra troops, and increased surveillance around critical infrastructure. They would leave next week when the exercises end, Andersen said, adding that he would like to repeat them in the coming months.

"To keep this area conflict-free, we have to do more, we need to have a credible deterrent," he said. "If Russia starts to change its behavior around Greenland, I have to be able to act on it."

In January, Denmark pledged over $2 billion to strengthen its Arctic defense, including new Arctic navy vessels, long-range drones, and satellite coverage. France offered to deploy troops to Greenland and EU's top military official said it made sense to station troops from EU countries there.

Around 20,000 people live in the capital Nuuk, with the rest of Greenland's 57,000 population spread across 71 towns, mostly on the west coast. The lack of infrastructure elsewhere is a deterrent in itself, Andersen said.

"If, for example, there were to be a Russian naval landing on the east coast, I think it wouldn't be long before such a military operation would turn into a rescue mission," he said.